


(They came after me) With Masterful Deceit

by Llama1412



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24171784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llama1412/pseuds/Llama1412
Summary: When Jaskier discovers that Yennefer has Elven blood, he is forced to confront his prejudices.
Relationships: Jaskier | Dandelion & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34
Collections: Banned Banned Together Bingo 2020, Banned Together Bingo 2020





	(They came after me) With Masterful Deceit

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Banned Together Bingo prompt Racial Slurs. This does not contain any racial slurs, but there are a few derogatory words about women used.
> 
> Thanks to [ladivvinatravestia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladivvinatravestia/pseuds/ladivvinatravestia) for the beta!  
> Title from _Toss a Coin_

Before traveling with Geralt, Jaskier’s world had admittedly been fairly small. That was why he’d set out on the road in the first place! He wanted to see the world, wanted to learn about anything and everything!

Before traveling with Geralt, he hadn’t realized just how many words people used to show they hated you. Well, not  _ him _ – Jaskier was just a human bard, people were rarely concerned with him. 

But his companions? Geralt, the Witcher, the mutant who humanity declared had no emotions and was only interested in coin. Yennefer, the sorceress who sold her humanity for power and who was a woman on top of that. Jaskier had heard some of the crudest phrases on the continent directed towards Yennefer, goading her into a reaction.

Sometimes she gave it to them, setting fire licking at their heels with a flick of her fingers. Sometimes, she went quiet instead, hunching in on herself. 

Those times made Jaskier the angriest. Yennefer of Vengerberg was the most powerful sorceress on the continent! She shouldn’t have to deal with stupid human ignorance!

And Jaskier didn’t even like her. Really, he didn’t care about her at all, she was just Geralt’s bitchy sorceress. 

Only turns out he really did, because when he heard some old men in the tavern making gross remarks about Yennefer, he didn’t even think about it before he was smashing a full mug of ale into the tallest guy’s face. 

Perhaps not his best move ever, because the man’s three friends quickly stood up, and they were a lot bigger than Jaskier had originally thought. Things were quickly looking like they were going to end badly for Jaskier, when the men’s attention shifted to something behind his shoulder and they sneered.

“Look who it is, come to rescue her pathetic dog. Guess the sorceress bitch has some emotion after all.”

Jaskier turned his head to see Yennefer standing behind him, eyes narrowed and hands crackling with power.

The men were apparently too stupid to take that for the warning it was, and one of them continued, talking as if Yennefer wasn’t even there. “You know, I heard a rumor she’s  _ Elvish _ too. No wonder the cunt abandoned humanity.”

“Because you’re so worth fighting for,” Yennefer remarked coldly. She flung her fingers out and sparks cascaded over each of the four men. The sparks didn’t catch fire on contact, as Jaskier had half expected. Instead, they roamed up and down the mens’ bodies as if they were alive, and then men started flailing, trying to bat the sparks off. 

“It burns!” One shouted.

“It  _ stings!”  _ Another shrieked.

Yennefer grabbed the collar of Jaskier’s doublet and dragged him out of the tavern. “Are you through getting into trouble?” She scowled at him once they were outside.

“Hey, I didn’t start that! And they deserved it!” Jaskier pulled himself out of his grip and shook himself off indignantly.

“You attacked them with a mug. Really, if you’re going to start a fight, at least choose an appropriate weapon.”

Jaskier scoffed. “It’s not as if I expected the fight.” He tilted his head at her and frowned. “Are you really Elven?”

Any warmth Yennefer  _ might _ have shown him immediately evaporated. “Why? So you can accuse me of betraying humanity, too?”

“I wouldn’t!” 

“No?” Yennefer raised her eyebrows. “I’ve met Filavandrel. I know the real story behind  _ Toss a Coin.”  _

“Oh,” Jaskier shuffled awkwardly. 

“Why should I trust that you ‘wouldn’t’ when you will happily throw my people under the bus to serve your interests?” Yennefer crossed her arms and looked down her nose at him. “I have no reason to trust that you’ve changed.”

Jaskier swallowed. Had he changed? He’d been a stupid kid when he’d written  _ Toss a Coin,  _ eager to impress his companion and win fame. He hadn’t thought that hard about making the elves into the villains, he didn’t think. It just, well, it just happened!

He’d felt bad for the elves, hearing their plight. It had been jarring to realize the same terrorists he’d grown up fearing were actually starving, sick refugees. He’d – well, he’d never said anything as bad as those oafs in the tavern! But there were several less than complimentary terms for elves that he used regularly. 

He would never use them on Yennefer, though! One, she could literally kill him with her mind. Two, he  _ knew _ her! He knew she wasn’t like that!

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Yennefer said. Jaskier abruptly remembered that she could read surface level thoughts, and he felt guilty, though he wasn’t sure why. “You think I’m different because we’ve met? Is that what it takes to be  _ not like other elves _ in your book?” Her tone was mocking. “Is that what makes us real to you? And what, all the others who you haven’t met, they’re obviously still everything humans say they are, right?”

_ Well, yeah  _ would definitely not be the right answer here, but he was pretty sure she heard it anyway.

She scoffed, her lip curled in disgust when she looked at him. “I am well past the point in my life where I want to spend time with people who hate me and my people.” She turned on her heel and left him standing on the street, gaping after her.

Yennefer had looked at him in a lot of negative ways before, but he’d never seen such disgust on her face before. Disgust at him.

Jaskier wanted to be better. He wanted to never give her – or anyone – cause to look at him like that again.


End file.
